A multiple or mass casualty incident can generally be defined as an emergency or disaster where the number of patients or victims exceeds or taxes available resources, or where resource access is restricted or limited or where resources have to be staged. In contrast to routine emergencies, efficiently responding to a mass casualty incident requires triage protocol and procedures for effectively allocating the limited resources.
Triage, from the French verb trier, means to sort, and is the foundation of mass or multiple casualty management. Traditionally, medical attention and transportation to a next level of care is given first to those with the most urgent conditions. While this is appropriate in circumstances when resources are available for the immediate care of all victims, this does not necessary utilize resources most effectively when resources are limited.
The goal in the most widely used methods of mass casualty triage is typically to “do the greatest good for the greatest number”. This goal is not very explicit. A more tangible and measurable goal is to maximize the saving of lives. Achieving this explicit goal requires the maximum utilization of transport and treatment resources in consideration of the timing and availability of those resources, the severity of the injuries of the victims, and their deterioration should care and transport to the next level of care be delayed as a result of resource limitations.
Accordingly, triage shall be referred to herein as an organized evaluation of all casualties to prioritize treatment and/or transport of the casualties. Further, triage includes the consideration for the availability and timing of treatment and transport resources.
When casualties are generated in large numbers, as in a mass casualty incident, local medical resources can easily be overwhelmed. The scene is often in chaos, and the response can be disorganized. As such, the efficient use of resources is compromised, with emergency response personnel left to do the best they can. There is no single, standard, or universal method of triage to support these efforts. The present invention provides such a standard, by providing a method and system of triage for determining an order of treatment, or transport for treatment, for victims of a mass casualty incident, to maximize the number of survivors of the mass casualty incident.
Non-mass casualty triage generally refers to a situation where resources are generally immediately available for all casualties of an incident. Non-mass casualty triage could involve multiple casualties, or just one casualty. In either event, transportation modes are immediately available, as are all required levels of trauma treatment, to adequately and fully triage all casualties of the incident. So, the question is not how to best distribute limited resources in limited time, as it is in mass casualty triage; rather, in non-mass casualty triage, the question becomes how to most efficiently use the choice of resources available, and how to best benefit from the additional time (more than in mass casualty triage), that allows for a more thorough casualty assessment.
For example, what is needed in transportation mode determination in non-mass casualty triage are efficient determinations that significantly reduce overtriage while maintaining target levels of undertriage. The present invention provides such a method and system.